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Calhoun gives plan of attack

AIR FORCE ACADEMY — At least Air Force coach Troy Calhoun's team was clear on its assignments as it broke for the holidays Wednesday. The hard part will come Dec. 31 in the Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas.

That's where the Falcons (7-5) hope to execute their plan of attack against Houston (10-3).

The offense needs to control the ball and score touchdowns. The defense has to focus on stopping, or at least slowing down, the pass.

The defense's task is daunting. Cougars quarterback Case Keenum had three games this season of at least 400 yards passing and four others of 500 yards or more. He also had four touchdown passes or more six times. He completed 468-of-659 passes for 5,449 yards and 43 touchdowns, all tops in the nation. And he only threw nine interceptions.

Air Force Football

"It's pretty clear-cut what we have to accomplish," Calhoun said after the practice session. "The strengths of our football team throughout the year have been winning the turnover margin, playing pass defense well and running the ball well. Keeping them out of the end zone and on our part making some first downs and scoring touchdowns will be key parts of the game."

The Falcons know Keenum and the Houston offense well, having played the Cougars twice last year. Air Force beat Houston 31-28 during the regular season in a game that was played at SMU because of Hurricane Ike's presence in Houston. And the Cougars reversed the decision 34-28 in last year's Armed Forces Bowl.

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"They're really good at passing, but last year their screen game hurt us and their running backs were good too," cornerback Reggie Rembert said. "We have to also account for those two aspects of the game."

Added cornerback Anthony Wright: "We know what's ahead of us. They can hit you from all angles. We've seen some potent offenses in our conference (Mountain West). When you're playing a team with a potent offense, you try to keep their offense off the field."

Quarterback Tim Jefferson would like to be part of a lot of nine, 10-play drives.

"Our offense is designed to hold on to the ball," Jefferson said.

Offensive guard Nick Charles agreed: "It's no secret that we run the ball. That's what we try to master. Our offense has to get some solid drives, eat up some clock, keep their offense off the field and score points as many times as we can."

The Falcons will next gather Dec. 26 in Fort Worth for their final practices. Calhoun credited his team's effort in practices at the academy.

"Our players just finished finals," Calhoun said. "This semester started back on Aug. 6 and for them to practice as hard as they have, you know this really is important to them," Calhoun said.

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